What It Means to Take "She Said, He Said" on the Road – Shelby Says

Today, Jim and I are getting on a train to Chicago. Tomorrow afternoon, we’ll be on stage at WordCamp Chicago giving our “She Said, He Said” Live presentation for the first time.

It’s funny how life goes

“She Said, He Said” started out as a simple phone conversation between Jim and me. That blossomed into the blog post series which then inspired the weekly Twitter chat. Now, here we are taking it to the next level.

I’m a bit nervous about this next level because the fact is that I’m not a speaker. I’ve spent my entire career behind the scenes. I’ve hidden behind computer screens, my phone, logos and (some of you may remember) even my own hat. Behind the scenes is just where I’m comfortable. I tag myself as a shameless promoter of all things great. Now, the shameless promoter is shamelessly promoting herself and that’s just an awkward position for me to be in.

Jim is an experienced speaker and he’s my partner in “She Said, He Said” so he’s endured many conversations about this over the last couple of weeks. Through these conversations, he’s helped me figure a few things out.

“She Said, He Said” isn’t about speaking

It has always been about Jim and me sharing opinions about and our experiences in social media and blogging. No matter what venue we do that in, we keep to that same goal. We didn’t sit down and plan to be speakers in this arena. It grew into this over time. If my business, Panoramic Interactive, and Jim’s businesses benefit from our endeavors, then that’s a big plus.

Whenever any business venture grows, it changes things. “She Said, He Said” is on the upswing right now and I’m feeling the effects. People from around the world are reaching out to me; especially on Twitter. I try to respond to everyone who interacts with me (and it’s a bit more difficult now) and I’ve set aside a day a week to do my follow backs. But that’s the only change you’re going to see from me in any of my social media networks. Before I signed on, I had a personal social media strategy in place and, no matter where “She Said, He Said” goes, my strategy won’t change. I’m still going to get personal, crack jokes and shamelessly promote other people’s awesome achievements.

WordCamp Chicago

When I’m on stage at WordCamp Chicago, I’ll also be celebrating Panoramic’s sixth month birthday. While I might not be completely comfortable getting on that stage, starting a business of my own wasn’t exactly comfortable either. Change isn’t comfortable; but without change there would be no growth and no success.

I’m not saying that I won’t be a bit nervous tomorrow. I bet even the most experienced speakers get a little nervous before each presentation. I will say that when I do step on that stage, I’m going to bring it and I’m going to do what I do best in all my social media networks: Just be me.